17 Successful People Share How to Become Unmistakable

This is a question Srini Rao, host of The Unmistakable Creative, closes each of his podcasts episodes with.

From happiness researchers to peak performance psychologists and from best-selling authors to successful entrepreneurs, Srini Rao has interviewed over 500 thought leaders, each with their own unique answer.

The following are 17 of the best replies to that question…

1. Derek Sivers, Entrepreneur

“To be unmistakable is to be clear and unambiguous in your head, and to live in accordance with your beliefs.”

2. Geoff Colvin, Author of The Talent Code

“It’s not always that easy in the modern world, but to be unmistakable, is to be relentlessly yourself. It’s the easiest way I know for anybody – and maybe the only way – for anybody to be unmistakable.”

3. Jon Acuff, New York Times Best-Selling Author

“I think to be unmistakable is to live out who you are in all your uniqueness and use the gifts you were given. It’s the bravery to march into the deep forest of who you are and be that person.”

4. Justine Musk, Author

“When you can identify your talent and master the skillset that will allow you to put it out into the world, and to serve other people, that’s unmistakable”.

5. Tim Ferriss, Author, Entrepreneur, Angel Investor

“Something that makes someone unmistakable is being different and not just better. Part of doing that is knowing yourself and being true to yourself. Be that weird person which is yourself. Embrace the things that make you unique, even if you might view them as weaknesses”.

6. Ryan Holiday, Author, Writer, and Marketer

“What makes someone unmistakable? When someone is truly themselves, rather than what they think everyone wants them to be. It’s the amount of time and energy they focus exclusively on asking themselves, ‘What’s important to me?’ ‘Who do I want to be?’ and, ‘What was I put on this earth to do?”

7. Seth Godin, Author, Entrepreneur, Marketer and Speaker

“The path to become unmistakable is the willingness to be wrong, to be criticized and most of all, to matter. And if you’re willing to do something that matters, you are likely to be in the minority – and it probably means you’re doing something that’s unmistakable.”

8. Dani Shapiro, Novelist

“To be unmistakable is to persist and to honor one’s gift. To understand that to have a gift is a precious thing. To nurture it and to give it the time and space that it needs, and to not get all caught up in the nosiness of the rest of the world.”

9. Clay Hebert, Entrepreneur, Marketer and Crowdfunder

“We live in a time now when literally everything is in front of us and we have all the opportunity in the world. Being unmistakable is about grabbing that possibility and acting with intention; it’s about waking up every day and building your dreams; it’s about being intentional with how you live your life, how you do your work and how you connect people.”

10. Charlie Hoehn, Entrepreneur and Author

“I think it starts from reaching your most inner self, from working on being your most authentic self, from being open, honest and vulnerable.”

11. Noah Kagan, Internet Entrepreneur

“If you want to be unmistakable, do something that makes you uncomfortable. When you actually go forward with it, people start recognising you.”

12. Tucker Max, Author and Public Speaker

“Don’t worry about being original; worry about being really authentic and really vulnerable, and really getting to the deep honest truth of what you’re afraid of. If you’re afraid of this truth, my guess is there are millions of other people who are just as afraid as you are. And if you get up and say it, then they are going to love you because you had the courage to say what they were trying to say themselves.You gave voice to something in them that was important to them. That’s how you make yourself unmistakable.”

13. Gary W. Goldstein, Producer

“I think what makes you unmistakable is speaking your truth. I think if you do that fairly consistently and make it a habit, you become unmistakable, you become memorable and you become an experience for everyone you come in contact with”.

14. Jayson Gaignard, Entrepreneur

“To be unmistakable is to be aware of what your strengths are, of what your weaknesses are, and where you allocate your time. It’s to be aware of what truly matters to you.”

15. Jonathan Fields, Entrepreneur

“To be unmistakable is to have a willingness to reveal the essence of who you are, and to lean into the process of craft long enough to develop a truly distinct voice.”

16. Jordan Harbinger, Founder of The Art of Charm Podcast

“There’s something about building for others and for me, being unmistakable means assembling all of the greatest knowledge you can into one place and making sacrifices to do that every day.”

17. Jessica Hagy, Cartoonist

“Someone is unmistakable when they’re not trying to be somebody else, but they have something on the inside that they just have to get out. You can’t miss that. If it’s got feeling, people are going to love it.”

Do you agree with this list? What do you think makes someone unmistakable? Leave your comments below, I’d love to hear from you.

Sam Thomas Daviesscouts the leading edge of the human sciences for what's new, surprising, and important. He writes about research-based ways to improve habits, add new skills and sustain excellence. To learn how to seize the potential of your life,read his free eBook.

11 Comments

ivan

Oct 16, 2015 at 4:46 pm

#7 by Seth Godin really spoke to me.

I personally like to look at life as a challenging game. I also enjoy playing poker. In poker one hand can change the outcome for better or worse, but as in life it’s not about the hand in which you are dealt, instead it’s about what you can accomplish with what ever hand you are given. These are the moments in which your persiverance makes you unmistakable.

I agree with what most of everyome said here to do in order to be unmistakable. Just living your life, knowing who you are, what your core beliefs are and living the way you want to without remorse or regret. That is how to be unmistakable. Its hard to be who you truly are in a world where everyone is afraid to be who they truly are and conform to meet the social norms. What these people said is very inspirational and true. Great post!

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Why It’s So Important To Break Out Of Your Comfort Zone

So I completed a Snake Handling course 6 years ago and during the final test of the course, we were asked to capture and bag 5 of Australia’s Deadliest snakes in a small confined room. The room had a Tiger Snake, Dugite, King Brown, Death Adder and a Red-Bellied Black Snake all slithering around at the same time. I couldn’t believe what I had got myself into.

Snakes were one of the biggest fears of mine. I would imagine a snake running underneath my feet from time to time and I would actually bring my feet up off the floor to avoid getting entangled or bitten by these imaginary snakes I had created in my mind. I would even have nightmares about snakes biting me and it would wake me up in sweats in the middle of the night.

I could have never imagined doing this in my life but I did it because I knew that I had to get passed this ridiculous fear I had of snakes, and I am grateful I was able to show up for it.

Checkout this podcast episode where I share how You can Master your Sub Conscious Programming around your fears in 2 Steps:

“What Are Your Top 5 Fears?”

– Public Speaking

– Cancer

– Sharks

– Snakes

– Heights

Were at the top of the list for most people.

The instructor carried on with a story of how he had just arrived back from a trip to the Northern Territory of Australia to visit an aboriginal community where he had met a 7-year-old boy who was absolutely scared to death of spiders and the dark.

It did not matter what kind of spider it is, he was scared and that was that. This boy would hunt crocodiles and lizards but was scared of even the non-venomous spiders.

All he had learned from a very young age was that spiders are dangerous and that they WILL kill you, yet the crocodiles and snakes that the boy would play with and hunt for are by far more deadly than most spiders that your everyday human would come across.

He was taught between the crucial years of 1-6 yrs old that the dark is full of evil happenings and that spiders are incredibly deadly and will kill him if he goes anywhere near them. So he was devastated to sleep in the dark and would jump on near by people just to get away from a spider nearby.

I’m not here to say that spiders aren’t dangerous, they are, and some out there have the potential to kill you. This boy was right to be cautious around spiders but where he lacked knowledge, or the right information about these creatures, eventually left him fearful of something he had never really understood.

This boy is just an example of many other people out there that are limited by their fears because of the little that they know. The less you know, the more fearful you are. This is only human and we are naturally scared of the unknown.

So the key thing here is we need more “KNOWLEDGE!” and it is in our best interest to want to understand how things work if we want to become less fearful of what the wild and wonderful world we live in has to offer.

You have to “EXPERIENCE” things to have a better understanding of the activity or whatever it is you are most scared of.

Joel Brown – Certified Snake Handler

When you increase your knowledge you can grow to the level where your fear is set at, so when the two meet it creates a level called “RESPECT”.

This is the perfect level to be on because you will now have a respect for what you fear which will allow you to then work with it rather than being submissive and missing out on the wonderful feeling of successfully OWNING!the outer areas of your comfort zone.

Everybody has a fear of some sort and learning more about what you fear and even voyaging through your ‘un-comfortable zone‘ will prepare you for the hard knocks in life on your road to success.

I have a few more fears to conquer myself and I am happy to say that I have crossed ‘Snakes’ and a number of other top things off my list. I’m sharing this story with you in hopes that you too will face at least one or two of your fears. Not to say that “you did it“, but to prove that you can outgrow your own personal limitations.

Your fears could be holding you back, they could even be the final piece you need to experience a brand new lifestyle or a brave new world of fun.

So get out there, learn more and grow!

No matter the storm, may your Faith be stronger than your Fears – Joel Brown

Feature Image Original Source: Indiana Jones – Raiders Of The Lost Ark